Cinema theatres remain closed for 150 days, film industry seeks relief

Like in the rest of the country, cinema theatres in Tamil Nadu too have remained closed for 150 days as on Friday. The impact of this has been very serious and life-altering to say the least for everyone connected with the movie industry.

Barring a handful of OTT releases which have not exactly sparkled, the production units, with heavily locked-up investments adding up interest burdens are at their wits 'end. The heroes have been trying various techniques to keep their fans happy and assuring them their mega ventures will see the light of the day only on the big screens very soon.

For their part, the film industry representatives have made many requests to the government to gradually allow them to return to shooting and production activities. They even agreed for two shows per day screening to maintain the SOP and adhere to social protocol. There were some expectations till the end of last month before the State government decided to extend the lockdown till August 31.

Now the plea made by producers is to consider the cinema theatres on par with gyms and allow them to function on similar lines. This is another request that the Establishment has to take up, if it wants to provide relief to the already disturbed filmwalas.

The film industry too is now under the vicious grip of the pandemic, with the latest high-profile case being that of S P Balasubrahmanyam, whose condition is critical as on Friday evening, after being treated in a Chennai hospital since August 5.